Need
by selizabetha01
Summary: Set in 3x13, Alaric hasn't woken up yet, Matt went home and Damon finally answers his phone. One shot.


**I know it feels like ages now since 3x13, _Bringing Out The Dead,_ aired but I wrote half of this a while ago and then only just had enough inspiration to finish it off. I quite like the ending so enjoy!**

**I don't own The Vampire Diaries, characters, settings all the usual stuff you write here + a funny comment etc. etc. etc.  
><strong>

**Twitter: asinsaviour_**

* * *

><p>Damon was trudging through the undergrowth in the forest that would lead him back to the boarding house, the place he now called home. Stefan had gone off in the other direction, claiming he needed to take a walk after an eventful evening of dining with the Originals. Damon knew he should have gone after him and watched him from a distance at least. All the human blood he had consumed, while off on his adventures with Klaus, still hadn't worked its way out of his system. Stefan was yet to prove that he could be trusted not to make a banquet out of the locals; however, Damon couldn't be bothered with his little brother right now.<p>

A beeping came from the phone in his pocket, the same as it had less than half an hour ago. He pulled it out and checked the caller ID which was flashing on the screen and sure enough, there it was in bright white writing, the five letters that spelled out the name of the only person he wanted to talk to and the exact same person whom he was trying to distance himself from – Elena.

Sighing, he accepted the call, knowing that rejecting it would only lead to ten angry voice mail messages. "Sorry, Damon can't take your call right now…" He trailed off as he heard Elena's heavy breathing on the other end of the phone and not the good kind as if she'd just been out for a jog or taking part in other, more unruly, activities.

"Damon," she breathed in a relieved tone. "Damon, I know you're there. I, I need you." Elena's voice trailed off into a mere whisper.

"I'll be right there," he assured her, ending the call and putting the phone back in place in his jeans pocket and setting off to her house at vampire speed.

* * *

><p>Elena was kneeling on the landing of her home; beside the corpse (could she call it a corpse if it was returning back to life?) of her only remaining guardian. She couldn't suppress the thought that this was her life now and this was what she would have to deal with for the rest of it. The thought sent chills through her, something between deadly fear and a terrifying sense excitement, although that sense was dulled in the current situation.<p>

She wasn't sure how long she had been sitting here, on the dark wooden flooring that her mother had chosen for the house when they had first moved in. Matt had been there, being his usual kind-hearted self, offering to hug her and make hot drinks, but she had ordered him away. She knew he was only trying to look out for her. He wanted to make sure both she and his favourite history teacher were okay but she knew she already had plans to meet up with the guys from school, at The Grill and she didn't want to tug him away from his ordinary life. Selfishly, she just _needed _one of her friends to be normal; she _needed _him to have a life that didn't revolve around trying to save hers.

A gust of wind, the loud slamming of a door, heavy footsteps on the stairs, things which all indicated that _someone _was in her house. She just hoped that _he_ had kept his word. It was because of that hope that she refused to freak out, reach for the knife and hold it out to defend herself with the weakest and only form of protection she could offer right now. She wouldn't be the scared, fragile little girl who jumped at the drop of a pin. It was him. She knew it was and like that, a head of ruffled black hair became visible. _Damon._

* * *

><p>Damon's eyes widened, as he ascended Elena's staircase, at the scene unfolding before him. Elena was there, sitting on the floor, her shiny dark hair covering her precious, tear-stained face. Then his eyes flickered to Alaric, lying there, motionless on the floor. The stench of blood had hit him before he had even opened the front door, he had guessed that something bad had happened but he hadn't anticipated that her house would be taking a bath in his best friend's blood.<p>

Damon sighed, partially glad that it wasn't Elena's blood and partially in frustration that Ric had managed to get into this mess _again. _Continuing the rest of the way up the staircase, around the body and finally kneeling down at Elena's side, he began to think of scenarios that could have lead to this ending and questions seemed to flash across his eyes.

Had an Original done it or a hybrid perhaps? Could it have been that new psycho doctor? What about Katherine, was she back in town with another ulterior motive? After all, she had done something similar to this before with John. At least he could cross off Stefan, or so he hoped. The blood painted walls may have been his thing, but not the knife. Stefan was definitely more one for bite wounds than stab wounds.

He lifted his head and scanned the body one final time, willing his fangs to stay in place, before turning to Elena. "What happened?"

"I don't know, he didn't, I," Elena took a breath, trying to straighten out the nights events in her head before repeating them to Damon. "Matt brought me home from Caroline's, she… her father, he'd dead and we, we came in and there was blood, it was all over and the house seemed empty so we followed it. We got upstairs and Alaric was here but he was still alive but barely and I had to, Damon, we didn't know if he was killed by someone supernatural or a human so I had to kill him," she explained.

Damon thought for a second and took in what she was telling him before his eyes flashed with understanding. "You're the _doppelgänger_," he nodded. "Go on."

"Damon, he has his ring but he's been out for so long, longer than usual. I don't, I don't know what to do. Will he wake up?" Elena's tone was petrified, Damon just wanted to hold her but someone was going to have to clean up this mess and judging by the state she was in, it would have to be him.

"Elena, look at me," he ordered, turning her face towards his own and gently moulding his hands around it. "He's going to be fine. He'll be just fine, I promise."

"I can't lose anyone else," she whispered, repeating words she had already spoken before with her eyes glistening.

Without a reply, Damon hoarded Alaric's limp body into his arms.

"What are you doing?" Elena asked, sounding as though all the energy had been drained out of her.

"Taking him to his room, he'll be more comfortable there when he wakes up and it means I'll be able to clean up some of the mess. I need you to into your room and get ready for bed, okay? Take a shower or a bath, relax, get changed, write in your diary, do your hair, put your shoes into order of colour, anything. You look exhausted." Damon answered her question.

She smiled weakly after a moment of looking like she wanted to retort something but then deciding that she should probably follow his advice for once.

* * *

><p>About an hour later Damon had made quick work of clearing the blood smears and hand prints off the surfaces of the Gilbert residence. It was something that he'd gotten so used to doing over the years that he knew how to complete the task quickly and efficiently so that he could get on with everything else in his life.<p>

He found himself pausing in the spot where he'd found Elena kneeling over Ric's body. When he listened, he found her heartbeat was still humming steadily, telling him that she was still fully awake in her bedroom. He strode across the hall and pushed open her door. He probably should have knocked first, in case she had gone with his idea of taking a bath or a shower, but where would the fun in that be?

When he slid into the room with her, he found that she was fully dressed, sitting on her bed and staring into space, her dainty hands in her lap, picking at her fingers the way one might before going into an important job interview. "He's still not awake yet, is he? I can't hear him," Elena asked, looking down at her hands now as she felt Damon's weight press down the space next to her on the bed.

"No, he isn't, but he'll be fine. He's as strong as a pair of old boots, he'll be up by morning and then dead again by noon, trust me," Damon assured her.

Elena let out a breath, creating a sound that said if she could turn it into a laugh, she would have. "I do."

Feeling brave and confident in the fact that she didn't have it in her anymore to push him away, Damon put one arm around her shoulders and tugged her into him until her head was resting on his chest. His fingers brushed up and down along the skin on her arm and for the first time since he turned up at her house that night, he felt her body begin to relax.

"I'll wait downstairs if you like. I'll make sure Alaric's okay when he wakes up and that nothing else gets in the house tonight and harms either one of you," Damon mumbled, not wanting to talk any louder in case he startled the girl in his arms while she was so close to finally falling asleep.

"You don't have to, you can go home if you want, you need to rest too," she whispered, breaking into a yawn at the end.

"Elena, do you remember what I told you the night I stole you away from the hospital?" He questioned.

Elena raised her head to his shoulder so that she was at a better angle to look him in the eye. "You told me you'd never leave me," she said.

"I stick by my promises, Elena. Tonight when you called me you said you needed me and I'm not going to leave you. Not tonight or any other night," Damon urged before giving her one last reassuring squeeze.

* * *

><p><strong>Please review! Good points, bad points, improvements, any errors that I didn't manage to pick up on, tell me! :}<strong>


End file.
